Motivation for the Intrinsic Drive

Once my mom and I joined writing forces, I began my portion of the book through interview. I love data collection and knowledge about many subjects fuels my brain into both ideation and decision development. I make very few decisions without doing a great deal of research. With the book being a memoir, it only made sense to start with the facts. This way, I could create my own image of what happened to my brother Mitch during his childhood and along what timeline it all occurred.

The initial phase was to create an interview for Mitch, the main character in our memoir. My mother contributed questions for him as well. As is true in any collaborative process, it was reassuring to see that the both of us shared similar ponderings and we both found pockets missing in one another’s thought. Once we finalized our list, I packed my kids into the car and drove what should have been 6 hours but with bathroom breaks, food stops, and behavior management detours (i.e. sitting for an ½ hour at an unknown exit because I threatened my kids that I would if they didn’t stop fighting in the back seat) ended up being 10 hours.

Nonetheless, we made it safely and with dry underpants from Maryland to Ohio. As I learned during my first internship in college, I threw a little extra fun into the journey and stayed with my dearest childhood friend, Veronica who happens to have kids the same age as mine are.

Turns out Veronica was as excited about the book as we were. As I told her the story, she had questions too. Questions we had not thought of before. Good questions. I wonder if the fact that we initiated the writing process as a team effort made it easier for me to take in and entertain third party thoughts and criticisms. Her excitement was infectious to me, as was mine to her. It was like a chain of positive energy reinforcement. Motivation that helps propel the intrinsic properties forward.

I drove to my brother’s the next day and conducted the first round of interviews. I both recorded and wrote down my notes. His answers did not flow in the same direction as I assumed they would. Some questions were difficult for him to answer and at times he became visibly uncomfortable. But because I had studied the questions and knew what (not how) I wanted them answered, I was able to connect with his flow and get the information I needed. Details that created his world fifty years earlier. To hear his language, his voice, his words was invigorating. To connect with him in person and to gain his trust was rewarding. I had officially begun my research.